Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Kalanchoe blossfeldiana cultivar Forever Midi Orange Glow.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Kalanchoe plant, botanically known as Kalanchoe blossfeldiana, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name xe2x80x98Forever Midi Orange Glowxe2x80x99.
The new Kalanchoe is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Ashtabula, Ohio. The objective of the breeding program was to create new compact, freely-branching and freely-flowering Kalanchoe cultivars with attractive leaf and flower coloration.
The new Kalanchoe originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in November, 1998 of a proprietary selection of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana identified as code number 98-300-3, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Kalanchoe blossfeldiana identified as code number 97-226-9, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Forever Midi Orange Glow was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Ashtabula, Ohio.
Asexual reproduction of the new Kalanchoe by terminal vegetative cuttings taken at Lompoc, Calif., since December, 1999, has shown that the unique features of this new Kalanchoe are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Forever Midi Orange Glow has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Forever Midi Orange Glowxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Forever Midi Orange Glowxe2x80x99 as new and distinct cultivar:
1. Compact, upright, uniform and dense plant habit.
2. Freely branching growth habit.
3. Numerous large orange red-colored flowers.
4. Small dark green-colored leaves.
5. Excellent postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Kalanchoe differ from plants of the parent selections primarily in plant habit and flower color.
Plants of the new Kalanchoe can be compared to plants of the cultivar Forever Midi Orange Ember. In side-by-side comparisons conducted by the Inventor in Lompoc, Calif., plants of the new Kalanchoe differed from plants of the cultivar Forever Midi Orange Ember in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Kalanchoe were more compact and more mounded than plants of the cultivar Forever Midi Orange Ember.
2. Plants of the new Kalanchoe had smaller leaves than plants of the cultivar Forever Midi Orange Ember.
3. Plants of the new Kalanchoe had larger flowers than plants of the cultivar Forever Midi Orange Ember.
4. Plants of the new Kalanchoe flowered about three to four days earlier than plants of the cultivar Forever Midi Orange Ember.
5. Flower color of plants of the new Kalanchoe was slightly lighter than flower color of plants of the cultivar Forever Midi Orange Ember.